Bangladesh-Myanmar sign Rohingya repatriation deal

PV Desk : Bangladesh and Myanmar have signed a deal on repatriation of lakhs of Rohingyas, who entered Bangladesh fleeing the violence in Rakhine state, with high expectation to send the refugees back to their homes in Myanmar.
No fixed deadline of the repatriation process, however, hasn’t been set in the instrument.
The deal was signed between the two neighboring countries following a meeting between Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at the latter’s office in Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, on Thursday (November 23).
AH Mahmood Ali and Myanmar Minister for State Counsellor’s office Kyauw Tint Swe signed the agreement.
Mahmood Ali made the disclosure of signing the ‘Arrangement on Return of Displaced Persons from Rakhine State’ after they reached a much-sought consensus on the Rohingya repatriation.
Earlier, Mahmood Ali sat in a meeting with Suu Kyi, at 10:00am local time, said the foreign ministry sources here. The meeting lasted for 45 minutes.
Over 622,000 Rohingyas have taken shelter in Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh since the August 25 upsurge in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, to avoid persecution by the military there.